One From Nigel and One From Gordon

Foccacia topped with a paste of sun- dried tomaotes, garlic and oregano; Persian-style Onion Soup and Rocket salad

It's a cool evening, a storm has just passed over leaving the ground barely damp. I'm finishing off last weeks vegetables, cooking a pot of potatoes to make home fries for breakfast tomorrow and a big pot of lamb bones, carrots and aromatics are simmering into lovely stock for a soup next week. Dinner tonight is foccacia, a rocket salad and a bowl of warmly spiced onion soup from Gordon Ramsay recipe. The Accountant bought a Ramsay cookbook last year, the only recipes that interested me were the soups, I've got to say that he does make a fine soup.

Foccacia
Serves at least 6
Adapted from Nigel Salter via Blake at the Paupered Chef

450g bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp fast-acting yeast
400ml warm water
cornmeal
3 tbsp olive oil

Put the flour and salt and yeast into a large bowl, mix well then pour in the water to make a sticky dough. Mix well with a wooden spoon then knead in the bowl using a silicone pastry scraper to fold the mixture and make a smooth dough, this takes about 5 minutes. Alternatively use a stand mixer. Foccacia is a particularly wet dough and you don't want to be adding a lot of flour to make it possible to knead by hand. Once the dough has been kneaded, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp clean tea towel and leave it until it has doubled in size, which may take up to 1 hour.

Prepare a baking tin (30 x 20 cm rectangle; 30 cm diameter circle) by coating with olive oil and applying a thin layer of cornmeal. Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Remove the dough from its bowl, then push it into the baking tin. Trying to cover the base of the tin. Cover with plastic wrap then let the dough rise for another 30 minutes.

Create a seasoning mixture from garlic, fresh herbs, salt, with olives, sun-dried tomatoes or caramelised onions. You will need about 3 tablespoons of a seasoning mix to cover the loaf of focaccia. When the dough has risen for the second time push several holes deep into the dough with your index finger, then spread the seasoning mixture over the dough.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and let the loaf rest for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and serve while warm.

Persian-style Onion Soup
Serves 4
Adapted from Healthy Appetite by Gordon Ramsay

3 tbsp olive oil
800 g onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp fresh mint or 1/2 tsp dried
2 tbsp plain flour
1 L vegetable or chicken stock
1 cinnamon stick
Juice of 1 lemon or some preserved lemon
1 tsp raw sugar
A few flat-leaf parsley sprigs, chopped

Place a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, the onions and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and sweat for 12-15 min until the onions are soft, lifting the lid and stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and increase the heat slightly. Add the spices and mint, then stir in the flour. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 min.

Gradually pour in the stock, whisking as you do so to prevent any lumps forming. When it has all been added, drop in the cinnamon stick and simmer over a low heat, for 30-40 min.

Stir in the lemon juice and sugar, if using preserved lemon dice the peel of half a lemon and add to the soup with the sugar, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Discard the cinnamon stick and serve with parsley.

Lebanese BBQ

An impromptu BBQ for Archivists, partners and me on a long weekend. Forequarter lamb was on special so I decided to get the BBQ out and try some more Lebanese recipes from New Flavours of the Lebanese Table by Nada Saleh. The menu for dinner:

Hummous
Pumpkin Dip, latkin m'tabal bi-thini
Thyme Flat bread, mankoushi bi-zaatar
Tabbouleh
Cheats BBQ Shawarma and Spiced Roast Potatoes


Pumpkin Dip
Adapted from New Flavours of the Lebanese Table by Nada Saleh

650 g peeled de-seeded pumpkin
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp walnut oil
Salt to taste
Crushed walnuts and parsley to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut the pumpkin into 2.5 cm wide chunks and place on a greased baking tray. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until soft and beginning to caramelise. Remove from the oven when done and allow it to cool.

Place the cooked pumpkin, garlic, tahini, lemon juice and walnut oil in a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt, then move the dip to a covered bowl. When you're ready to serve chop some parsley with some walnuts and sprinkle over the surface.

Cheats BBQ Shawarma and Spiced Roast Potatoes
Serves 8

1.6 kg lamb diced 1.5-2 cm
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp whole black pepper
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole fenugreek
1 tsp whole nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp Spanish paprika
2 tsp salt
Canola oil

1.5 kg chat potatoes
3 tsp rock salt
Canola oil

Soak 18 bamboo skewers for 30 minutes to prevent them burning on the BBQ. Peel and par-boil the potatoes. Prepare the BBQ for cooking with indirect heat then light it.

Using a mortar and pestle crush the allspice, black pepper, cloves and fenugreek then grate nutmeg into the mortar, add the ground ginger, cinnamon then mix; this mix is known as Sabea Bharat in Lebanon. Place the lamb in a bowl, then mix though the spice mix, paprika and salt. Tread the meat onto the bamboo skewers leaving space at either end for easy turning, this amount of meat should make at least 18 skewers. Drizzle some oil over the meat to prevent sticking to the grill and leave the meat to marinate.

Quarter the cooked potatoes the spread them out in foil trays. Crush the rock salt in the mortar and pestle, mixing the leftover spice mix with the salt. Sprinkle the spiced salt over the potatoes and toss with the oil. Cook with the lid on and vents open until the potatoes are crispy.

Once the potatoes have been cooking for 30 minutes, close the lid vent on the BBQ and add the meat. Cook the skewers for 25-30 minutes.

Lunchbox Muffins

My criteria for a good lunchbox muffin are (1) the muffins aren't too sweet, (2) they contain a good portion of fibre, (3) they include ingredients that I normally have in the pantry. Muffins made with vegetables and wholegrains meet all my requirements, I've modified this carrot and coconut recipe to my preferences and I have a pumpkin one that I'm still working on for next time. I use my Benriner to finely shred the carrot for this recipe, the resulting grated carrot is consistently whispy and is easily distributed though the muffins.

Carrot and Coconut Muffins
Make 12 muffins
Adapted from Comfort: Real Simple Food by Michele Cranston, Mikkel Vang, and Christine Rudolph

280 g wholemeal plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
150g sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
200 ml vegetable oil (canola, sunflower, grapeseed)
200 g grated carrot
100 g shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease or place paper muffin cups into a 12-hole muffin tray.

Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix. Add the eggs, zest and lemon juice and oil and stir until smooth. Then mix in the carrot and coconut through.

Spoon mixture into muffin tray and Bake for 25-30 minutes, until muffins have risen and are golden brown. Allow to sit for 5 minutes after removing from the oven before turning the muffins out onto a cooling rack. Pack the muffins into a storage container when they are completely cold.

Five Rules for Fried Rice

I have had many unsatisfying bowls of fried rice, but recently I have perfected my technique. These are the my rules for making perfect fried rice.

1. Use room temperature rice, I usually cook mine then tip it in a colander rinse under the cold tap and leave it to sit on the sink while I chop everything else.
2. Use five or fewer vegetables and proteins and cut everything into similar sized pieces.
3. Use a very hot wok.
4. Cook fried rice a serve at a time, start with aromatics like ginger and garlic and raw meat or the hardest vegetable; add the rice and egg last.
5. Add liquid seasoning like soy or fish sauce to the finished dish.

Links clean-up

I was going though the food bookmarks I have accumulated over the last two years, I thought it might be interesting to see how many I have tried and clear out the folder at the same time. I store internet recipes as bookmarks if I might make them and email myself a copy or the recipe if I am actually planning to make the recipe that night or during the week, that way if I really like it I have a handy permanent electronic copy.

*Brinjal Masala, a Kerela-style eggplant dish. I have made this multiple times and it's fantastic. Grill the eggplant instead of frying to reduce the oil content a bit
*Bill Granger's Coconut Bread from the New York Times, I've made this a few times. It's good.
*Jamaica Banana Jam, bookmarked during the Australian banana shortage of 2006. I must have been really craving bananas, but now I have real bananas again I'm not really interested in making this.
*Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread reprinted by The Wednesday Chef. I did make no-knead bread lots shortly after the recipe came out, but it isn't fantastic as written. I like it made with 1/3 rye, but I've moved on to other breads.
*Perfect Coq Au Vin from Nigel Slater. I haven't made this yet. But I will when the temperature drops below 30 degrees Celsius.
*Korean Vegetable Rice Bowl from Gourmet magazine. I have never followed this recipe, but I did use it as a starting point for my own bibimbap, since nobody on epicurious follows the recipe as written, I think this probably counts as made.
*Frijoles Negros from the Three Guys From Miami. I have made these beans at least twice, but I've failed to return to the site for other recipes.
*Curried Sweet Potato Soup appealed to me because I normally have all the ingredients to hand, but I haven't made it yet.
*Braised Lamb Shanks with Leeks and Haricot Beans from Nigel Slater. I normally braise shanks in a style similar to osso buco; this is another one I will try when the weather cools down.
*Five-hour Shoulder of Mutton from Gourmet Traveller by way of Stonesoup. I was going to try this about 18 months ago, but the butcher didn't have any lamb shoulders and mumbled something about people wanting this cut after watching Jamie Oliver. I still haven't made it.
*Bill Granger's Scrambled Eggs, Aussie food bloggers mostly seem mad for Bill's eggs. I bookmarked it, but I prefer my eggs in most other formats.
*Pickled Jalapeño Rings, I will make this as soon as I can find a lot of jalapeños in good condition and at a reasonable price. I love pickled jalapeños.
*The Amazing Five-Hour Roast Duck, made for Christmas 2007, it was amazing.
*Piaz ka Chatni, a fresh onion relish. I should make it next time we have Indian food.
*Pita Bread, I have been meaning to try this when the bread runs out, but still haven't got to it.
*Traditional Napa Cabbage Kimchi, I totally want to make Kimchi this year. I'm not sure this is the recipe that I'll use.
*No-Knead Pizza Dough, another one from Jim Lahey. I think the no-knead recipe would work better for pizza bases than as a loaf. This only came out this month and it's too hot to make pizza.
*Curried Black-Eyed Pea Soup, it's also too hot for soup.

Six out of eighteen, not too bad for recipes I wasn't necessarily going to try. Lots of these are cold weather meals, so I'll try to review some later in the year.